Party committee contributions update
Contributions to the Democratic party committees on the national, state and local level increased significantly in 2007-2008 compared to earlier election cycles, while Republican party receipts declined over the same time period. This is the first time since the Commission began compiling party fundraising summaries in 1985 that Democratic party committees have raised more than Republican party committees.
During the first 13 months of the 2008 election cycle, from January 1, 2007, to January 31, 2008, the three Democratic national party committees—the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)—raised a total of $191.3 million. This is an increase of 26 percent over a similar period in 2006 and 85 percent increase over the first 13 months of the 2004 cycle.
The three Republican national committees—the Republican National Committee (RNC), the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)—raised $186.2 million during the same 13-month period, an 18 percent decrease from 2006 and 2004 totals.
The DSCC and the DCCC reported substantial increases, while the DNC reported a slight decrease in receipts. The largest percentage growth in fundraising came from the DCCC, whose $71.5 million in receipts through January 31, 2008, represented a 57 percent increase over 2006 levels. The DCCC total was $18 million more than the NRCC raised during the same period.
All of the Republican national committees reported a decline in contributions. The RNC raised $97.5 million, 18 percent less than in 2006. Compared to 2006, the NRSC’s receipts declined by 11 percent to $35.4 million and the NRCC declined by 22 percent to $53.3 million.
The rise in Democratic receipts and the decline in Republican receipts continued from the national party to the state and local parties as well. The Democratic party committees at all levels, including federal, state and local, reported receipts of $211.3 million in federal funds during 2007—23 percent more than the $172.4 raised in 2005. Republican party committees on all levels raised $208.4 million in federal funds in 2007, a decline of 16 percent from $248.6 million in 2005.
Contributions by individuals constituted the bulk of the receipts for both parties. Republican committees reported receiving 85 percent of their receipts ($176.7 million) from individuals, while Democratic parties received $161.2 million from individuals (76 percent of the Democratic party totals).
During the period of January 1, 2007, to January 13, 2008, Democratic party committees reported raising $36.2 million from political action committees (PACs) and other committees, including $18.4 million from House Democrats’ campaign committees. Over the same period, Republican parties received $22 million from PACs and other committees, with $10.6 million coming from House Republicans.
Additional information is available in a Press Release dated March 6, 2008. The release, which is available on the FEC website at https://www.fec.gov/updates/contributions-to-party-committees-rise-for-democrats-and-decline-for-republicans/ provides summary data for the financial activities of the federal committees of the two major parties for 2007 and comparisons for the same period in the last nine election cycles. It also includes tables depicting the breakdown of contributions to national parties by contribution amount and lists of contributions to the DCCC and NRCC by current Members of Congress.
